Hydrogen Vehicles

David Kurten: After the explosion in a hydrogen refuelling station in Norway on 10 June 2019 and the closure of all such hydrogen refuelling stations in the whole country on safety grounds, will you be changing your plans for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in London?

The Mayor: Transport for London (TfL) is aware of the incident in Norway and has received assurances from the relevant hydrogen refuelling station supplier regarding the root cause of the failure and any similarities between the refuelling station currently operated by TfL near Stratford, the planned new station at Perivale, and the one in Norway.
An independent investigation into the incident in Norway has found the root cause to be a manufacturing-related issue in the high-pressure storage, which the supplier has already introduced corrective actions to address. Neither TfL’s current station near Stratford, nor planned station in Perivale, has storage of the same high pressure, and their inherent design would preclude a similar incident from occurring.
TfL will continue to work with the hydrogen refuelling station suppliers to ensure safety is paramount. TfL has also instructed an independent risk assessment of the new station design at Perivale to ensure all risks are minimised.

ULEZ

Tony Arbour: What work has TfL carried out with London Boroughs to inform blue badge holders that they will have to pay the ULEZ charge if their cars are non compliant?

The Mayor: Transport for London (TfL) engaged with all London Boroughs prior to the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) launch, providing information about the scheme and exemptions. TfL also met and corresponded with a broad range of pan-London and national older and disabled people’s organisations, which represent many Blue Badge holders. This ensured they were consulted through the scheme’s development and had accurate information to communicate to members and service users.
In addition, TfL communicated directly with all Blue Badge holders registered on the TfL database via email and also sent letters to customers who have not provided their email addresses. In total, 159,906 emails and 41,280 letters were sent just to Blue Badge holders.
The information provided explained when the ULEZ was being implemented, details of the scheme, and how to pay the daily charge. It also encouraged recipients to use the ULEZ vehicle checker to check if their vehicle met the required emissions standards. Blue badge holders using a vehicle that meets the Ultra Low Emission Zone emissions standards do not have to pay the daily ULEZ charge.
This activity was supported by a multi-channel communications campaign explaining how to pay the charge, with information appearing on radio, online videos targeted at drivers and detailed information on the TfL website.

Heathrow ULEZ

Tony Devenish: Does the Mayor agree that if Heathrow were to introduce their own ULEZ all the monies raised must be ringed fenced to pay for improved public transport? If so, how will the Mayor ensure this happens?

The Mayor: I continue to oppose Heathrow expansion given its environmental and surface access impacts. The air quality impacts remain a particular concern, with the finding in the Airports National Policy Statement (NPS) that there was a high risk that Heathrow expansion would lead to non-compliance with legal limits. In the judgment handed down following my legal challenge of the NPS, the judges made clear that air quality was “the reddest of red lines” and would still have to be addressed by Heathrow Airport Limited (HAL).
‎However, the potential effectiveness of‎ the ULEZ proposed by HAL is questionable. In particular, it has decided that the most regular visitors to the airport – namely airport staff – are going to be exempt from the charge. Today, staff account for around 35 per cent of trips to/from the airport, the majority of which are made by car/taxi. As such, the benefit of the Heathrow ULEZ in encouraging additional people to switch to cleaner vehicles is likely to be limited. This indicates to me that HAL is not taking the issue of cleaning up London’s toxic air seriously enough.
‎I agree that all monies raised must be ring fenced for improving public transport and other sustainable modes. It would be wholly inappropriate if such a charge could be used to increase HAL's profits. TfL has raised this directly with HAL and also with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), including through a response to the CAA's most recent consultation on the economic regulation of Heathrow. Ultimately, it will be for the CAA to set the regulatory framework and TfL will continue to work with them to ensure an approach which directly supports sustainable mode shift.

Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Task Force (1)

Susan Hall: Please provide the Assembly with the full list of members of your Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Taskforce.

The Mayor: Organisations announced as taskforce members on 31 May 2018 were: British Electrotechnical and Allied Manufacturers’ Association, British Retail Consortium (BRC), Cross River Partnership, Energy UK, Federation of Small Businesses, Freight Transport Association, London Councils, London First, Office for Low Emissions Vehicles, Ofgem, Royal Automobile Club Foundation, Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, Society for Motor Manufacturers and Traders, Shell UK, SSE Enterprise, and UK Power Networks.
The taskforce members all have an active role, either themselves or via their memberships, in contributing towards the increase of charging infrastructure across London. Membership is spread across industry, public and private sector. In addition, over the past year, Transport for London has received input from more than 350 stakeholders representing more than 140 organisations as part of the taskforce workshops, which have helped to shape the Delivery Plan.

Shortage of rental taxis

Caroline Pidgeon: To address the shortage of taxis that are affordable for rental hire by taxi drivers will you consider TfL directly bulk purchasing electric taxis and then directly hiring them to taxi drivers to address the current shortage?

The Mayor: European State Aid rules restrict Transport for London, as a public body, from leasing black cabs at a reduced price.